Cascades and Fairy Bells

Now that warmer weather has arrived, the mountain streams are running full from snow melt and the wildflowers are beginning to bloom. The flowers are late blooming this year and the early results seem to show that they are rather sparse and have suffered some effects of the turbulent weather. Still, it’s good to finally see them!

Fairy Bells, Hooker fairy-bells ~ Prosartes hookeri

Cascades on Spring Creek

New arrivals

Redstem Stork’s Bill ~ Erodium cicutarium

Hooker’s Fairybells ~ Prosartes hookeri

Utah honeysuckle ~ Lonicera utahensis

Blue-eyed Mary~ Collinsia parviflora

Arrowleaf Balsamroot~ Balsamorhiza sagittata

(As a size comparison, a few Blue-eyed Marys can be seen in the background of this last photo.)

Early May wildflowers.

In spite of a cold spring and below normal rainfall here in western Montana, the wildflowers are blooming, but about two weeks later than usual. This morning there was fresh snow on the mountainsides a thousand feet above the valley floor.

Western Gromwell, Lemonweed ~ Lithospermum ruderale

Western Serviceberry, Saskatoon ~ Amelanchier alnifolia

Field Pepperweed, Field Peppergrass or Pepperwort, Field Cress ~ Lepidium campestre

Fairy Slipper, Calypso orchid ~ Calypso bulbosa

Marsh Valerian, Northern Valerian ~ Valeriana dioica

Hooker Fairy-bells ~ Prosartes hookeri

Kinnikinnik ~ Arctostaphylos uva-ursi

Field Chickweed ~ Cerastium arvense

Arrowleaf Balsamroot ~ Balsamorhiza sagittata

Black Hawthorn ~ Crataegus douglasii

Holboell’s rockcress ~ Boechera pendulocarpa

Menzies’ fiddleneck ~ Amsinckia menziesii

Meadow death-camas ~ Toxicoscordion venenosum

Large-flowered Tritelia ~ Triteleia grandiflora